The Slytherin Code
by rhead-a-holyc
Summary: For all their blood purity ideals, Slytherins stuck together.
Light fingertips brushed the spines of books both old and new, some looking as if thousands of students past had peeked through their pages and others looking untouched by the library's many visitors. Dark eyes roved the peeling inscriptions, pausing once in a while to tug a tome into her arms and flip through the pages for anything that looked like it could be useful to her. Slughorn's essay was due in less than a week, and it wouldn't do to start making excuses about late work this early in the year.

Thin arms clutched four books of varying conditions and thickness as their owner wove amongst the bookshelves to return to the table that had been claimed earlier, the bag laying on the shining wooden surface the only marker. Tossing black hair behind her shoulder, the closest book was dragged closer, ink, quill and parchment already waiting.

She caught a glimpse of Severus amongst the shelves, even though he probably didn't need the extra knowledge with how Slughorn sang him praises whenever the boy entered the Potions classroom. It was more than a little unpleasant to be outdone by a filthy halfblood like him, but acting friendly was worth the occasional favour the boy offered in Potions. She would stop that kind of treatment to the halfblood filth as soon as she possibly could, but the act would surely continue for the next three years.

Severus hated the attention, they all knew it. It caused those unruly Gryffindors to focus their attention on Severus when looking for a Slytherin target while they were brewing their potions, and Dumbledore didn't even blink an eyelid when his precious Gryffindors caused trouble. It would be amusing for the little upstart to get his just desserts. If he weren't a Slytherin, that was, one of _them_ , and the fact that the Gryffindors dared harm one of their own made her body quiver and her hands reach for her wand, a plethora of spells and curses already coming to mind – all of which would be well earned by the fools of Gryffindor. If magic didn't have an effect on potions, her _dear_ cousin and his friends would have been cursed into oblivion by several Snakes already.

As it were, they were left to their own methods and had to ensure that they wouldn't be caught. The Lestrange twins were the best at that, and they had taken a liking to Severus, which was a plus when they decided to get more creative with their revenge. The Slytherins all knew when they had done something against the Gryffindors, even if the Lestrange twins allowed the mysterious "Marauders" to take the credit for their revenge on the House of Lions. There was no need for the Lestranges to be proud of doing only what needed to be done, and no one mentioned it either.

The Marauders were suspected to be Gryffindors, anyway, so they were safe from any trouble that came as a result of their actions – something that Rodolphus and Rabastan had taken full advantage of, seeing that if the Marauders actually named themselves several teachers would be out for their blood. Even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to save them from the detentions and points that would be taken away then, and she thought she knew exactly who these mysterious "Marauders" were.

Her cousin, Sirius, and his friends, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew seemed to take a sadistic amusement in taunting Severus. Despite his impure blood, Severus was still a Snake, and even she put aside his impure blood to protect him, when necessary.

Pausing her essay, she left her table again, this time to find Severus amongst the Potions shelves – one of the most obvious places to find him, second only to the potions laboratories that Slughorn had opened to Severus whenever they were free. Casually sidling up to the boy, eyes idly wandering across the spines of the books, she noticed Severus stiffen out of the corner of her eye.

"I should warn you…" she whispered, moving her head to the side slowly, making sure the Gryffindors weren't in sight, "your _favourite_ Gryffindors have entered the library, and I thought that you may be able to assist me with my Potions essay."

Black eyes narrowed, and she was graced with a sharp nod and Severus's soft footsteps trailing behind her as she headed back to her table. While her presence didn't offer _too_ much protection, she knew that Sirius, at least, would give their plans a second thought and hopefully it would deter the other Gryffindors as well. The threat of disownment should be enough for Sirius to second guess some of his actions, even if she didn't really want Sirius to be disowned - but Sirius didn't need to know that.

Severus took the seat opposite her, ensuring that no one else would join them – at least no one that was not from Slytherin. She watched as his hand clenched as the recognisable voices floated towards them from a couple of shelves over, and she was surprised that Madam Pince hadn't come over to shout at them yet.

"You mentioned needing assistance?" Severus murmured questioningly after a few moments of sitting stiffly.

"Would you take a look at it when I'm done and tell me if I need to change or add anything?" she asked, amusement filling her as the wary look entered Severus's eyes again. She couldn't fault him: she had been the one to curse and mock him several times before, but that had only been within the vicinity of the common room. The Slytherins were safe from each other outside their common rooms because the rest of the houses usually stood against them.

"Oh, look, it's Snivellus. Hiding behind a _girl_ ," came the voice of James Potter. She saw Severus's eyes flashing coldly, and she was certain there were several curses that he desperately wanted to use on the Gryffindor but held back.

"Look, it's _Potter_. I heard you got rejected by that mudblood again. If nothing else, at least she has standards," she said lightly, eyes flickering upwards to catch the Gryffindor's reddening face. "Keep going, soon your face will match your house colours."

"Why, you-"

"Severus, would you mind taking a look at this for me?" she asked, ignoring the spluttering Potter, embarrassed Lupin and conflicted Sirius. She was surprised Sirius was even holding back. Her cousin had one of the loosest tongues she knew of, even Crabbe and Goyle knew when to be silent better than he did. She idly wondered where that little rat, Pettigrew, was, knowing that the cowardly Gryffindor usually hung onto the robes of these three, while Severus nodded and pulled her essay closer.

"Severus?"

She noticed Severus perk up at the sound of that voice, and Potter scowl in annoyance. A rush of air left her lips in exasperation. The glare Potter shot Severus before he turned to hurry off with his friends wasn't nearly as effective as it usually was, and she knew that it was all because of that mudblood both Severus _and_ Potter were enchanted with.

Honestly, she would have thought _Severus_ had higher standards than _that_.

 **Written for:**

 **Quidditch League Round 1: Chaser 3: Write about a Death Eater at school – Bellatrix Lestrange**

 **Prompts: (dialogue) "I should warn you..."; (quote) "People in their right minds never take pride in their talents." – Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird; (emotion) anger**

 **Note: this doesn't strictly follow canon since I'm not entirely sure who would be in the same years and am lumping quite a few of them into the same year**


End file.
